Music / Samantha Fish
Review: Samantha Fish, The Tunnels
Samantha Fish has more than one string to her bow. Apart from imposing herself as one of the hottest contemporary blues acts, she is also a productive artist thirsty for musical innovation and curious digression. This year, she has nailed the challenge to release two albums, Chills & Fever and Belle of The West, in the space of 8 months. To add some piquant to the dare, Fish has gone various directions with the content of the two LPs, moving from Delta blues and Motown R&B to a more acoustic approach, proving that she can shine on Americana vibrations.
She makes her return to The Tunnels tonight for the first time touring with her own band. She’s got the difficult task to promote both albums without making it a dense affair full of incoherent jumps between the genres. To the contrary, the almost 2 hour set is smartly composed and gets everyone wiggling from the first minute to the last. The crowd is mesmerised by her incredible charisma of a blues goddess, her blonde locks often falling on her face after frenzied guitar solos.
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The opener He Did it is loud and roaring, her strong voice complemented by intermittent explosions of trumpet and saxophone. The energy emanating from the band is compelling. Although wearing black suits, contrasting with Fish’s colourful outfit, the band is hugely legitimate and highly talented. Her musicians don’t only accompany her guitar solos while assuring a strong rhythm section, they also respond to her with individualised flight of musicality.
After blasts of rock’n’roll riffs to shake the reserved audience, Fish changes the mood with a jazzy Hello Stranger, on which her singular voice sensually answers to brass sounds. The peak moment of the show is the extended rendition of Somebody’s Always Trying, featuring a mind-blowing guitar solo showcasing Fish’s dazzling chops. She also introduces new compositions such as Blood in the Water and the beautiful acoustic encore Need you More, on which she skilfully shows an Americana side.
With fierceness and voluptuousness, Samantha Fish sets The Tunnels on fire tonight. She is a determined artist who, by following her vivid creativity, shakes the conventions of blues music. With her very productive year coming to an end, the audience is left wandering what kind of material she will come up with next. She will certainly shake things up again a little but she cannot hide the fact that she is powerfully drawn to the rawness of rock’n’roll and it divinely suits her.
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